MRSA prevalence in a teaching hospital in Western Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

To determine the prevalence of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA] colonization in our institution. A 5-day period prevalence study of all adult and pediatric patients. Excluded areas were the adult intensive care unit [screened on admission and weekly thereafter], the outpatient hemodialysis population [screened monthly], and newborns. Our facility is a referral/teaching hospital for the National Guard population and their dependants in Western Saudi Arabia. A total of 240 patients were screened. Nasal sampling was carried out and isolation/identification of MRSA was performed using standard microbiological methods. The total number of patients sampled was 240 and of those 10 [4%] were colonized. The 10 positives were found in 4 patient care areas; adult male medicine 5, adult male oncology 3, adult female medicine one, adult high dependency unit one. These patients care areas had 69 patients [42 males and 27 females]. Ten [14%] were colonized by MRSA; 9 males [21%] and one female [3%]. Statistical analysis Chi Square for discontinuous variables, "F" test for continuous variables found that one], male gender [p=0.04], 2] the presence of a long term invasive device [p=0.04], 3], length of stay [p=0.004] were predictive of MRSA colonization. The overall prevalence of MRSA colonization in our hospital was low, however a sub-segment of the population identified as male, having long term invasive devices, and hospitalized more than 2 weeks, were frequently colonized. Any strategy, in our hospital, to control the spread of MRSA should include the testing of this population